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Armistead Maupin, author of the Ta/a of the City series
North Carolina's proudest son
se,ves up . More Tales of the City
by Jeffrey L. Newman
Contributing writer
It has been a long road for Armistead Maupin to bring the sequel to his
best selling novel Tales of the City to the small screen.
PBS dropped plans to film the follow-up, More Tales of the City, fol­low,
ing an outcry from the religious right after the public broadcasting· net­work
aired the first Tales movie in 1994. It looked as if a sequel would never
be made.
But last year, ShowTime coughed up $8 million to produce the six-hour
miniseries, which premieres in two parts on June 7 and 8, and will run on
the cable network throughout June and July.
"It's been a long road to get to here, but I'm very excited," says the 53-
year old author, who is single and lives in San Francisco. "We didn't have
any difficulty with the making of the film. The production entity wanted to
be as faithful to the book as possible. There was no censoring in any way.
I'm very proud of what we have to offer people. I can't predict what response
will be. But I'm very happy with the film we've produced."
Most of the original cast has returned for the sequel, including Olympia
Dukakis, Laura Linney, Bill Campbell, and Barbara Garrick. Only three of
the original actors - Chloe Webb, Paul Gross, and Marcus D'Amico -
opted not to r~turn.
Also joining the cast for the second round are Parker Posey (seen in the
onginal film), Swoosie Kurtz, Edward Asner, Sheila McCarthy, and Paul
Bartel, as well as openly gay actors Scott Thompson (Kzds in the Hall) and
Dan Butler (Fraiser).
"There was a special pleasure with reuniting with the cast ill' mbers who
did come back and finding us on that set. again," Maupin says. "It's like
revisiting an old family estate and finding it's still intact.·•
Tales of the City is the story of a very gay San Francisco in the 1970s,
during the heyday of gay cruising, bathhouse pick­ups,
deep kissing, bawdy humor. and sleeping
around. The sequel picks up just days after the first
one ends and takes place on the Pacific Coast of
Mexico, in Nevada, and San Francisco.
This is a much more adventurous story. There's
a fair amount of casual frontal nudity in the new
film. There's also an extended masturbation scene.
In one major scene, the main characters, John
and Michael, are seen naked in bed, while a new~
broadcast featuring famed anti-gay proponent
Anita Bryant, railing against homosexuals, airs in
the background. In the original book veFsion, the
Bryant's campaign to repeal a gay rights law in
Miami is introduced by way of Michael's mother.
But Maupin wanted a more cinematic way to por­tray
the historic event, and used the original 1977
television footage of Bryant for the film.
"The idea of having John and Michael in the
midst of love-making when Anita Bryant
announces her campaign for a network TV movie
was too good to pass up," Maupin says of the con­troversial
scene. "I imagine there will be a fair
number of bible thumpers who will not be happy
with me again."
Also, unlike the first film, More Tales features
a developing lesbian love story between two of the
main characters. "It's a very lovely storyline. Here
we clearly have two women who start as friends
and end up falling in love with each other, which
seems to happen more frequently in lesbian life
than in gay male life ."
Maupin says his goal with the second movie
was to challenge the viewers even more than the
first time. For' the author, that means lots of sex
and blunt language. ·
"Until society gets used to that imagery, homo­sexuality
will remain demonized," he says. "It
sounds like all I'm out to do is shock and scandal­ize.
But there's a moral message at the center of it
all, which has to do with tolerance and acceptance
and a lot of corny things that I believe in."
While Maupin is quick to point out that during
the filming of the first movie in 1993, PBS did not
put any restrictions on the script or try to censor
Maupin's work, he praises the freedom that cable
offers for work such as his.
"PBS was great in allowing us to film the first
installment the way we wanted to. They never told
us we couldn't do this or do that. It wasn't until
after the first one aired that the trouble began,"
Maupin says. "It's also many years after the first
one and times have changed. We wanted to bring a
new dimension to the project and push the enve­lope
even that much more."
The author says the most challenging part of
adapting his books to the small screen was not giv­ing
in earlier in his career to bringing his books to
the silver screen.
"It took a great deal on my part not to sellout to
Hollywood at a time when it would have com­pletely
bastardized the story," he says. "Writing it
for television is tremendously satisfying. It lends
direction and power to the kind of storytelling that
I like to do."
Raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Maupin
grew up in an era when being gay was not accept­able
or openly discussed, and felt very isolated and
alone as a gay teenager. "I grew up in- North
· Carolina at a time when it seemed to be one of the
worst places· to be young and gay," he recalls,
adding that he didn't lose his virginity until he was
25. ''I had very few role models. L"berace was one
of few examples of homosexuality in Amencan
culture and that was a pretty terrifying prospect."
~~ _.. ·,: :'.', ··. ·. ': ;· ·~,/ ~: ·:. :':',; -'.~ ,-:· ·: . -~ ·: : .. ; ." <·~ • 'V.: ,~,~y,,J9t9.a;/~, •
-r;,,~. '<-""~- ,'\~-
He says one of the reasons getting Tales filmed
for TV is so important is because of the impact it
could have on gay youths. whose only escape is
watching television.
"I grew up listening to ghost storjes with
friends around the campfil'e. So it was thrilling
when, as an adult, I could help eliminate through
writing the great pain of my childhood, which was
the solitude I felt as a young queer. It thnlls me to
death that this miniseries is out there floating
around making life easier for pre-teens and
teenagers who already know they are gay," Maupin
says.
"Almost every gay person I know has to come
to terms with their life in their late-20s and that's a
difficult time to be dealing with adolescent issues.
Our lives are postponed by a culture that won't
acknowledge we exist when we are that young," he
adds. "I knew I was queer when I was 12 or 13.
Most kids know where their fundamental attraction
lies when they are that age and then they hate
themselves for something that is fundamental to
who they are." ·
In 1971, at age 27, he moved to San Francisco
and "met straight people who were more comfort­able
with homosexuality than I was. It made me
realize that it was okay to be gay," he recalls.
An unknown writer at the time, Maupin landed
a job at the San Francisco Examiner where he
began to write a fictional column about gay life . It
was 1976 and no one was explaining gay life.
Two years later, an editor at Harper Collins sent
a note to the writer asking him to adapt his columns
into a book. The result was Tales of the City. It
instantly became a bestseller and is considered one
i grew up in North Carolina at a time when it seemed to
be one of the . worst places to be young and gay," he
recalls, adding that he didn't lose his virginity until he
was 25. "I had very few role models. Li~erace was one
of few examples of homosexuality in American culture
and that was a pretty terrifying prospect."
of the quintessential gay books of the last two
decades, along with Dancer from the Dance,
Faggots, and The Best Little Boy In The. World. A
total of six books have been published in the Tales
series.
Outside the Tales saga, Maupin has only writ­ten
one novel, 1996's Maybe the Moon, which he is
currently adapting for the big screen. His next tome
will be published this Christmas, and like Maybe
will feature various characters ·tp.at originated in
the Tales saga. Still untitled, the new book is a psy­chological
suspense story centering on a gay
writer.
And if More Tales is a success, ShowTime is
likely to film the remaining four stories of the
series.
"That's my ultimate dream. The head of
ShowTime has indicated that he plans to continue
if he gets the response from viewers, which is why
it's important that people write letters to ShowTime
and order the channel for that month," Maupin
says. "Of course, I have enjoyed the thought that
PBS will sorely regret not pursuing this miniseries
when the rating for this s'oars through the roof."
Jeffrey L. New1nan is a New York based writer
and can be reached via email at
editorjejf@aol.com
May 1998 • OUR OWN • 17

Digital image copyright 2016, Old Dominion University Libraries. All rights reserved. For more information contact Special Collections and University Archives, Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Armistead Maupin, author of the Ta/a of the City series
North Carolina's proudest son
se,ves up . More Tales of the City
by Jeffrey L. Newman
Contributing writer
It has been a long road for Armistead Maupin to bring the sequel to his
best selling novel Tales of the City to the small screen.
PBS dropped plans to film the follow-up, More Tales of the City, fol­low,
ing an outcry from the religious right after the public broadcasting· net­work
aired the first Tales movie in 1994. It looked as if a sequel would never
be made.
But last year, ShowTime coughed up $8 million to produce the six-hour
miniseries, which premieres in two parts on June 7 and 8, and will run on
the cable network throughout June and July.
"It's been a long road to get to here, but I'm very excited," says the 53-
year old author, who is single and lives in San Francisco. "We didn't have
any difficulty with the making of the film. The production entity wanted to
be as faithful to the book as possible. There was no censoring in any way.
I'm very proud of what we have to offer people. I can't predict what response
will be. But I'm very happy with the film we've produced."
Most of the original cast has returned for the sequel, including Olympia
Dukakis, Laura Linney, Bill Campbell, and Barbara Garrick. Only three of
the original actors - Chloe Webb, Paul Gross, and Marcus D'Amico -
opted not to r~turn.
Also joining the cast for the second round are Parker Posey (seen in the
onginal film), Swoosie Kurtz, Edward Asner, Sheila McCarthy, and Paul
Bartel, as well as openly gay actors Scott Thompson (Kzds in the Hall) and
Dan Butler (Fraiser).
"There was a special pleasure with reuniting with the cast ill' mbers who
did come back and finding us on that set. again," Maupin says. "It's like
revisiting an old family estate and finding it's still intact.·•
Tales of the City is the story of a very gay San Francisco in the 1970s,
during the heyday of gay cruising, bathhouse pick­ups,
deep kissing, bawdy humor. and sleeping
around. The sequel picks up just days after the first
one ends and takes place on the Pacific Coast of
Mexico, in Nevada, and San Francisco.
This is a much more adventurous story. There's
a fair amount of casual frontal nudity in the new
film. There's also an extended masturbation scene.
In one major scene, the main characters, John
and Michael, are seen naked in bed, while a new~
broadcast featuring famed anti-gay proponent
Anita Bryant, railing against homosexuals, airs in
the background. In the original book veFsion, the
Bryant's campaign to repeal a gay rights law in
Miami is introduced by way of Michael's mother.
But Maupin wanted a more cinematic way to por­tray
the historic event, and used the original 1977
television footage of Bryant for the film.
"The idea of having John and Michael in the
midst of love-making when Anita Bryant
announces her campaign for a network TV movie
was too good to pass up," Maupin says of the con­troversial
scene. "I imagine there will be a fair
number of bible thumpers who will not be happy
with me again."
Also, unlike the first film, More Tales features
a developing lesbian love story between two of the
main characters. "It's a very lovely storyline. Here
we clearly have two women who start as friends
and end up falling in love with each other, which
seems to happen more frequently in lesbian life
than in gay male life ."
Maupin says his goal with the second movie
was to challenge the viewers even more than the
first time. For' the author, that means lots of sex
and blunt language. ·
"Until society gets used to that imagery, homo­sexuality
will remain demonized," he says. "It
sounds like all I'm out to do is shock and scandal­ize.
But there's a moral message at the center of it
all, which has to do with tolerance and acceptance
and a lot of corny things that I believe in."
While Maupin is quick to point out that during
the filming of the first movie in 1993, PBS did not
put any restrictions on the script or try to censor
Maupin's work, he praises the freedom that cable
offers for work such as his.
"PBS was great in allowing us to film the first
installment the way we wanted to. They never told
us we couldn't do this or do that. It wasn't until
after the first one aired that the trouble began,"
Maupin says. "It's also many years after the first
one and times have changed. We wanted to bring a
new dimension to the project and push the enve­lope
even that much more."
The author says the most challenging part of
adapting his books to the small screen was not giv­ing
in earlier in his career to bringing his books to
the silver screen.
"It took a great deal on my part not to sellout to
Hollywood at a time when it would have com­pletely
bastardized the story," he says. "Writing it
for television is tremendously satisfying. It lends
direction and power to the kind of storytelling that
I like to do."
Raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Maupin
grew up in an era when being gay was not accept­able
or openly discussed, and felt very isolated and
alone as a gay teenager. "I grew up in- North
· Carolina at a time when it seemed to be one of the
worst places· to be young and gay," he recalls,
adding that he didn't lose his virginity until he was
25. ''I had very few role models. L"berace was one
of few examples of homosexuality in Amencan
culture and that was a pretty terrifying prospect."
~~ _.. ·,: :'.', ··. ·. ': ;· ·~,/ ~: ·:. :':',; -'.~ ,-:· ·: . -~ ·: : .. ; ."